The "Just Home" proposal to house seriously ill people leaving jail cleared one of its final procedural hurdles at a heated public hearing, where locals repeatedly testified that they feared for their safety.
Political calculus around a City Council race in the East Bronx has slowed the approval process for "Just Home," a plan to house seriously ill people leaving jail, and could cue up a test: whether the Council is willing to override opposition from one of their own.
The patient hadn’t eaten anything substantial for years due to nausea so constant that she couldn’t keep down solid food. Instead, she “ate” daily through an IV line. When asked what food she missed she said none: The very thought made her sick to her stomach.
Then there was the dizziness and the mysterious fevers spiking to 106 degrees Fahrenheit at times caused by bloodstream infections that struck without warning and that, when the doorbell rang, made her wonder whether she would make it through an otherwise routine visit with friends.
Now 23, she felt like it was an eternity ago when she was healthy and 15, playing soccer and running track. As her symptoms appeared and worsened, doctors near her home in Springfield were baffled. Her body seemed to be attacking itself, but tests for known autoimmune conditions came back negative